The fears and demons of Soul Eater Evans I
by Nyx Mystery
Summary: Soul must face up to his stage fright when Maka signs him up for a music contest. Minimum amount of coarse language.
1. Chapter 1

Soul stared into his reflection on his dressing room mirror. It reflected a pale, haggard face, with glowing embers for eyes and a mouth drawn down with weariness. His pale platinum hair was neatly done: slicked back with gell and curled appropriately, yet some strands were becoming undone and were now sticking out awkwardly. In the background, he heard a chorus of applause as the piano piece came to a close. After the next contestant, he was up. The thought sent a wave of nausea up his throat and he clutched his head in his hand and moaned quietly. His moans filled his head blocking out all noise and vertigo hit as the floor, which he stared bleakly at, suddenly tipped dangerously upwards and... Rat tat tat! The three knocks on the door broke him out of his nightmare and wearily he lifted his head from his hands and turned his stare towards the door. "Soul? Soul, it's me, Maka. May I please come in?" Upon realising that it was Maka, Soul returned back to his former position, tightly clamping his palms around his ears and humming loudly in his head. "Soul! Open up, NOW!" It was impossible. Maka was she-who-couldn't-be-ignored. Hesitantly, he pulled himself from his chair and dragged his feet towards the door. He opened the door an inch and glared at Maka's right eye, which glinte as it peeped at from the other side of the door. At the sight of Soul, however, all anger melted out of her emerald eyes.

"Hi! May I come in please?"

He glowered at her for a second, before opening the door slowly, inch by inch. His meister burst in, clearly in a good mood. After admiring the pretty dressing room for a moment,she turned to Soul excitedly.

"So, are you ready for your performance?"

Soul scowled at her insensitivity. Maka was normally more sensitive than this; excitement was screwing her brain. The idiot.

"No, I'm not," he snapped shortly. "I never expected that you, with your knowledge of my backstory, would drag me into doing this. And _no,_ I don't care if my parents are part of the frickin' audience!"

All joy and excitement in Maka's face evaporated at his words, leaving confusion and hurt. A pang of guilt throbbed through his heart and he turned away from her angrily. In the background, a sad ode wailed uncontrollably. His eyes fell to the dressing room desk which contained the music sheets for the performance. Torn edges, scrawly handwriting, and ink splodges everywhere, this was the produce of his hard work. His parents wouldn't recognise him, no one would like the song. Whether he ran away or not, the results be the same: failure. Sighing to himself, he moved towards the bin and dumped the papers in. He left the room silently, leaving Maka alone in the room. The hall corridor was long and winding, yet strangely inviting. His legs moved of their own accord, whilst his head remained in the dressing room, suddenly a hand reached out amd grabbed him from behind. He gasped and spun around, only to see it was Maka with her face grim and emerald eyes burning fiercely.

"You're up next!"

"I know. I'm not performing."

"You are."

"No. I can't fail. Not in front of my parents. Not in front of _you."_

"So you're a coward. That's not cool, Soul."

"No, I'm..."

"Not able to face your fears of performing, I know. Don't use all that failure shit with me."

"You really don't understand..."

"And I really don't understand you, too. Didn't you say you didn't care if your parents were there or not?"

"I did, but...that might have changed."

"So give your best performance out there! I wouldn't have forced you to enter for other reasons."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry."

"Apologise later. Just go out there and do your best!"

"You sound cheesy."

"_Soul!__"_

"Sorry, tsundere."

"Soul!"

"I'm going, dammit!"


	2. Chapter 2

Maka Albarn sat in her seat, drumming her fingers on her lap nervously. On stage, the serenade ended and the audience applauded the male singer as he bowed graciously to all. The announcer ran on stage then, in a pompous voice, "Please put your hands together for our next participant, Soul _Eater _Evans!"

There was a rather polite smattering of applause, quiet in comparison to the wild ruckus that had erupted for earlier performances. The mood worsened when Soul himself came on. With his unusual shock of white hair, glowering red eyes and brooding look, it was easy to feel suspicion of him, and the audience silently grew unsettled. Soul slowly shuffled to the piano and sat down on his seat. Hands lifted and poised to play, Soul looked ready for action. But the music never came.

Soul couldn't move. His fingers were frozen in place above the keys. But they wouldn't move. His fingers felt cut off from his brain, which howled maniacally in frustration. Fear replaced panic, a cold feeling which gnawed relentlessly at his gut. Around him, he could feel the animosity of the audience grow into a silent hatred. One which he couldn't destroy. Murmurs rippled down and up the seats behind him.

_Who's _that_?_

_A student from DMWA._

_Ugh. That school for freaks? Makes sense. He's a freak himself._

_How could they allow such a dangerous person to participate in such an event? _

Suddenly, the world around him turned to dust. The shadowy faces of the audience loomed above him, eyes glowing scarlet. They too disintegrated, leaving the face of Wes his brother, who grinned smugly at him. His freakish smile vanished, replaced with his parents who's eyes were stern and disappointed. They wailed inside his head in despair. Finally, Maka's face joined the group. Her emerald eyes were downcast and her upbeat smile was no more. Suddenly, all of her features were erased except for her mouth, which was drawn down in a heavy wailing line that echoed the depths of despair. All around him, blackness spun around and around.

A clap. Down the far side of the seats. There it was again. And again. Soul's head turned of its own accord and he clapped eyes on Maka, who was out of her seat and clapping. Not in a particular rhythm, nor beat. She just clapped. Opposite her, another began to clap. Then another. And another. The encouraging applause ran like a contagious yawn, and soon the entirety of the audience were clapping in support for him. Soul Eater Evans. His fingers moved across the keys and the audience erupted in cheers. Soul smiled to himself.

'Thanks, Maka.'

He then began to play. Into the keys, he wove a gorgeous piece much different from the ones that he normally played. It was hopeful, sweet, with a melody unlike no other. It came from the heart.

Soul didn't win. Not like he minded. However, his mind kept flitting over to Maka and her reaction to his failure. But, all fears took flight out of his mind when Maka ran over and hugged him tightly backstage.

"Soul! Well done! You were great out there!"

"Thanks," he mumbled gruffly, aware of his reddening cheeks. "Were my parents there?"

Her face told him all he needed to know. A slight lump of disappointment tried to settle in his stomach, but he ignored it. Smiling genuinely, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Doesn't matter. If they wanted a great show, they just missed one."

**Fin. Finally done. Messed up the ending there, but oh well. I'll get better. My Avatar the last Airbender fanfic is on hiatus because of my lack of creativity. I'll try to complete it if I can. Please read and review! Thank you!**


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